This Christmas spectacular live from Vienna stars Diana Ross, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras with the Wiener Symphoniker Orchestra, conducted by Vjekoslav Sutej.
The original 3 Tenors Concert at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome
Magic was created in July 1990, when Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras met onstage at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome and became the Three Tenors. This greatest musical event ever is an awe-inspiring orgy of the greatest hits for the tenor voice. Zubin Mehta exquisitely captures the largeness of this bonanza through the grandiose orchestra.
The Three Tenors – The Lost Concerts
The Three Tenors began their collaboration with a performance at the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome, the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final. Following the big success of the 1990/1994 concerts, The Three Tenors opened a world tour of 31 concerts, the last one in 2003. Seven of these 31 concerts had been recorded for TV but disappeared somewhere in London. All attempts to bring back these invaluable recordings to the audience failed. Now, after all these years, C Major in cooperation with Three Tenors Ltd. managed to assemble the most beautiful moments of six lost concerts in Munich, Tokyo, London, Vienna, New York and Pretoria.
Three Tenors – From Caracalla to the World
It was the most successful classical concert: 30 years ago, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras performed together with Zubin Mehta for the first time as „3 Tenors“ in the thermal baths of Caracalla on the occasion of the Football World Cup in Italy. 1.6 billion spectators watched the concert worldwide – and it catapulted classical music into a completely new dimension. Just in time for the 30th anniversary, the film „Three Tenors – From Caracalla to the World“ shows the emotional highlights of the first concert and the sequel in Los Angeles. Previously unpublished backstage material shows the tenors unadorned and offers a fascinating insight into what takes place beyond the spotlight. The film takes a completely new look at the concert legend. For the first time, Placido Domingo, José Carreras, conductor Zubin Mehta and Luciano Pavarotti‘s widow Nicoletta Mantovani talk about José Carreras‘ struggles with leukemia, their rivalries and friendships, their spectacular contract poker and life as an opera star.
The Vision: Making of The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994
The Vision gives you the chance to look behind the scenes and watch as the story of The Making of The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994 unfolds. With Budapest’s Heroes Square as the inspiration, a baseball stadium is transformed into the greatest amphitheatre ever built, combining classical architecture with the beauty of nature. A vast array of contracts are agreed, the repertoire is chosen (changed and chosen again!), including medleys specially arranged by renowned composer Lalo Schifrin, an orchestra and chorus are prepared, sound and live recording equipment is installed… and Los Angeles’ busy air traffic is persuaded to keep away from the stadium during the concert. From an intimate charity concert in Monte Carlo in June, there is exclusive film of The 3 Tenors relaxing, rehearsing and in concert performing Libiamo ne lieti calici and Granada. And six weeks later in Los Angeles, Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti and Mehta are captured at their final dress rehearsal before the momentous 1994 concert. Finally, as World Cup fever and tenor-mania grip Los Angeles simultaneously, four of classical music’s premier and most popular talents combine to perform La donna é mobile from the concert that enthralled the world.
The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994
The legendary tenors José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, together with conductor Zubin Mehta, celebrated the finale to soccer’s 1994 World Cup with a live concert described as “probably the biggest single musical event in history”. Brought together for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, The 3 Tenors and Mehta joined forces again, this time in Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium on July 16th 1994 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Music Center Opera Chorus, to perform a selection of operatic arias and international favourites specially orchestrated by composer/arranger Lalo Schifrin. The result is an outstanding film, reflecting a unique event, featuring three legendary performers who share a united passion for opera and football.
Messa da Requiem
Herbert von Karajan recorded Verdi’s Requiem multiple times over the course of his career, such that it became one of the signature works of his repertoire. In this film, he brings together an exceptional group of some of the late 20th century’s greatest singers: Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnès Baltsa, José Carreras, and José van Dam. Composed between Aida and Otello, the Messa da Requiem is dedicated to his friend, the poet Alessandro Manzoni, who had participated in the Italian unification movement, the Risorgimento. The technically and artistically challenging work was described by Verdi’s contemporary, the conductor Hans von Bülow, as an “opera in ecclesiastical garb”, an interesting expression of the fascinating tension between the theatrical and the religious in this monumental chef-d’oeuvre.
Don Carlos
Considered one of Verdi’s most challenging works, Don Carlos gets the royal treatment in this production at the Salzburg Festival directed by Herbert von Karajan. Verdi’s opera demands soloists of incredible technical ability who are also capable of communicating their character’s struggles with exceptional expressiveness. Inspired by Schiller’s eponymous historical tragedy, Don Carlos explores the conflicts between 16th-century European society and the heavy-handed political influence of the Catholic Church, as well as the roles of liberty and religion in the life of modern man.